


The Real Fight is Survival Itself

by TooManyDucks



Category: Original Work
Genre: BAMF Layla, Biracial Character, But this does take place between the late 80’s and early 2000’s, Coming of Age, Crack Treated Seriously, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone is 15 and older so don’t worry too much about it, Everyone is British, Everyone sort of just lives together in the middle of the woods, I don’t know where I’m going with this, I don’t know who’s idea that was lol, I don’t know why either so don’t worry, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Inspired By The Animals of Farthing Wood, It Makes Sense Later On, It’s Going To Go Downhill, I’m not spoiling anything yet, Learning Magic, Mature But Also Tame??, Modern Fantasy, Multi, No Sex, On the Run, One Big Happy Family, Post-Apocalypse, References to the Beatles, Sarah Cares, Seamus Is Everyone’s Dad, Sexual Humor, Shapeshifting, Soma is a Gentleman, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Somebody Save Layla, Sort of its hard to explain, That comes in to play later though, They Live In The Woods But They’re Civilized As Hell, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, This was written by three stoned people, Trigger warning for physical abuse later on, Unhealthy Relationships, What Have I Done, ambiguous time period, presumably anyway, rated for language, stop me, this is a fucking mess, undisclosed location
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29734272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyDucks/pseuds/TooManyDucks
Summary: Crack written after marathoning too many shows I forgot about lol)It’s barely safe for a sacred grove of sorts belonging to a group of people, but why? Because they’re constantly in danger and basic essentials are becoming more scarce each day, and while they make a plan to head somewhere safer, not everyone comes out of their travels unscathed, let alone alive.. what will become of the remaining travellers?
Relationships: Eventual Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Everyone & Everyone, Original Female Character & Original Female Character, Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Non Human Character & Original Female Character





	The Real Fight is Survival Itself

**Author's Note:**

> Me and a few friends wrote this, so this is automatically going to be a huge ass mess rofl- 
> 
> Either way, considering this is an original work, at the end of each chapter, there’s going to be a sort of mini description for the characters that first showed up in the chapter, so I’d advise paying attention or else things in later chapters will get confusing otherwise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting far too risky and everyday is an even bigger struggle for not only survival, but even the most basic necessities too. Something has to be done about it, and though there’s only one possible thing to do, it requires cooperation and lots of it.

First it was the recent storm, and then it was the river.. and a few of the adults have already died from the contamination in the water, and although a majority of the people living in this area were capable of a few different types of magic, there was little that could be done to prevent their seemingly inevitable slow demise. A middle aged man with dark hair sighed at the state of not just his home, but the home of quite a few others as well. “Seamus!” A familiar, but unusually desperate sounding voice was quick to bring the Irishman out of his thoughts to address the person in question.  
“A few others have died from the contamination in the river and there’s not much else we can do.. things just keep getting worse.” Soma explained the problems that seemed to just continue piling up with an understandably worried look on his face. Seamus sighed as he rubbed his temples, something he often did in stressful situations. 

“And they’ll only get much worse from here, lad. I’m afraid there’s only one option available for us, but.. it’s an incredibly risky one.” He was clearly unsure what else to do at this point, especially because there would’ve been a lose-lose situation regardless of whatever action was taken, but still, even Soma knew that as long as the others were able to live in a much safer environment, it would hopefully be worth it. “Whatever this option is, I’m all ears, besides, there’s nothing else we can really do otherwise.” The younger male replied, looking rather hopeful. As if on cue, a young woman with dark skin ran over to where Seamus and Soma were standing. “Am I interrupting anything?” She asked, seemingly out of breath. Seamus was a bit surprised by Layla’s sudden arrival, but also clearly prepared for bad news given how highly worried she looked. “Of course not, Layla, what seems to be the trouble?” Seamus asked her patiently, already thinking of actually putting his newly discovered plan into action as soon as possible to avoid hopefully losing anymore lives. “Mrs. and Mr. Wickham’s boys died from the contaminated river problem. I think it’s safe to say on behalf of everyone that we’re all afraid anyone of us could be next.. I mean, I guess what I mean to say is.. what do we do now? More of us are already abandoning hope from the looks of things.” Layla seemed close to tears as she spoke, though Soma put a comforting hand on her shoulder in an attempt to put her at ease. 

Seamus frowned, looking more serious than ever. “There’s only one possible thing we can do now. It’ll be risky, but we’re all in danger and we need to act fast. We’ll have to call an emergency meeting, with everyone.” He said in a bit of a quiet voice. Soma and Layla definitely weren’t expecting that, judging by the surprised looks on their faces. “An emergency meeting? Damn.. we haven’t had one of those since I was at least a toddler, it’s been a really long time, but if it will help all of us, it’s worth a try.” Soma said thoughtfully with a very faint smile. “Alright, I’m in too. Is there any way we can help?” Layla asked eagerly. Seamus chuckled a bit at how eager the younger woman was to help others, which was quite an admirable quality about her, seen as she didn’t know most of the others very well, but was still willing to help them by any means necessary. “Well, to begin with, we should start by going and telling everyone the news.” He began explaining what to do to them before going off to tell a few others about the meeting himself. 

-Meanwhile- 

Word of the river being contaminated spread quickly after quite a few had fallen ill and even died from it, which was why a small blonde girl was going to check up on someone who a vast majority of the others in the woods tended to be wary around. “Sarah..? I’m not trying to intrude or anything, I just want to make sure you’re alright from the storm a couple of nights ago, I promise I’ll leave right after.” Hotaru called out softly, only to receive a huff of irritation in response nearby, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin in surprise. “If you really insist. I’m perfectly fine.. now get out of my sight or else you definitely won’t be going anywhere anytime soon..” Sarah, who was sitting up in a tree in an almost carefree (if not for her usual stoicism) manner, said in a low tone as a warning, which Hotaru was quick to take. Knowing what she already knew about talking to Sarah, Hotaru simply nodded and walked away as quickly as possible. Eventually, the small girl stopped and decided to have a bit of a rest, as she hadn’t had a lot of time to rest peacefully with what had been happening recently, not to mention that dehydration from avoiding the river was beginning to catch up to her. With a tired sigh, Hotaru sat down in front of a tree as she got into a more comfortable position, then she soon began to doze off, without really meaning to, but truth be told, dehydration could really take quite a lot out of anyone in this situation. 

-Elsewhere- 

A certain dark haired woman glared down from her spot up in a tree as she heard the familiar, urbane voice of Seamus calling to her. “What do you want this time..?!” Sarah answered back in her usual soft, raspy voice. Seamus was completely unfazed by Sarah’s (apparently) naturally threatening tone. “We’re hosting an emergency meeting tonight, because the last time I checked, we have a serious crisis on our hands, and before you ask, yes it affects you as well. Bear in mind, food’s becoming scarce.. amongst other things.” He explained calmly, definitely hoping that Sarah would at least show up later on. Honestly, while Seamus understood why most of the others didn't like her all that much (considering she did tend to scare others away for a reason he couldn’t quite understand, and often threatened them when they didn’t budge), but regardless, nobody deserved to be abandoned and left for dead. Sarah thought for a moment, or maybe she was just fed up and was giving the Irishman the silent treatment, until she spoke up again. “I suppose I’ll think about it.. I’m a part of the community too after all, as much as I dislike admitting it..” She practically sneered, turning her attention away from Seamus again. Meanwhile, the dark haired male sighed with relief as he walked away, already knowing who to go look for next. 

-Elsewhere again, a few hours later-

Hotaru’s eyes fluttered open as she stretched her arms a bit. She felt more well rested now, but that didn’t make her any less dehydrated, which would surely become worse overtime. Though her spirits seemed to be lifted when she heard footsteps nearby, already knowing well enough who they belonged to. “Hotaru? Don’t be startled, it’s just me.” Seamus called out to her once he had made his presence known to the small girl. “Anything change?” Hotaru asked as she scooted over a bit to allow the older male to sit next to her. “Er.. sort of. There’s to be an emergency meeting this evening, we just can’t keep going on like this, I mean.. things are only going to get worse if we don’t act quickly enough.” Seamus explained as he sat down next to the younger girl, who he had practically been a father to, alongside Soma and Layla, from a young age. “I never thought it would get this bad, but.. if there’s anything we can do to keep everyone else safe and spare them the pain of loss, then I’m all up for it.” Hotaru wasn’t expecting things to get to the point where an assembly was needed, but regardless, she was wondering what would end up happening in regards to resolving the situation. Seamus couldn’t help but smile faintly at her words. “That’s my girl.” He said before looking up at the darkening sky, which had a mix of orange from the sunset. “Goodness..! It’s that late already? Come, Hotaru, the others should be arriving shortly.” Seamus told Hotaru as he started heading to the arranged meeting area with her, being careful not to trip over anything the storm might’ve left lying around as well.

-A few minutes later- 

“All that’s left to do is get a nice fire going and wait. And hope Sarah decides to show up as well..” Seamus whispered the last part as he began to whistle idly to himself, enjoying the peace and quiet while he could, because he already knew it wasn’t going to last very long. “That’s everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Wickham should be the first ones here.” Soma announced as he walked over to where Seamus was standing. The Irishman was startled by Soma’s sudden presence due to making very little sound prior. “Good lord above, don’t startle me like that, lad!” He said as he put a hand over his heart to recompose himself. Soma couldn’t help but laugh slightly at his reaction. “I apologize, but _somebody_ had to say something.” He replied with a bit of a smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters introduced/mentioned:
> 
> Seamus Abernathy: Irish / Male / age 51-53 / Born in Ireland.
> 
> Soma Glasson: French-Norwegian / Male / age 17 / Born in France.
> 
> Layla Gates: Irish-Barbadian / Female / age 19 / Born in Louisiana. 
> 
> Hotaru Akane: British-Japanese / age 15-16 / Born in England.
> 
> Sarah Balkus: Lithuanian / Female / age 26 / Born in Canada.
> 
> Kelly and Justin Wickham: British / Female and male / age 28 and 35 respectively / Born in Ireland.
> 
> Oh also side note, Layla has dark skin, but I’m hoping the way I described her as such isn’t offensive in any way, and if it is, I apologize and I’ll try to correct my wording.


End file.
